Lessons Learned From a Year Without Showering

As of today it has been one year since my last shower. Yes, I know that sounds crazy and a year ago I would have agreed with you. I was a regular showering guy for the first 26 years of my life. Well, maybe not every single day, but just about.

So how does a regular showering guy end up going 365 days and counting without taking a shower? It started with a long bike ride across America to promote sustainability and eco-friendly living. I set a bunch of rules for myself to follow to lead by example. The rule for water was that I could only harvest it from natural sources such as lakes, rivers, and rain or from wasted sources such as leaky faucets. And I kept track of exactly how much I used too, with an aim of showing just how little we need to get by.

I made it through the 100-day bike ride without taking a shower and for me that was quite the task in itself. But everything had gone so well that I decided to continue my showerless streak. I set a goal for 6 months and when that day passed I figured I might as well go a full year without a shower.

So here I am now, one year later, to tell you story of my year without a shower.

I might as well bring this up right away. You think I’m really stinky right? You think I smell like some sort of Swamp Monster like this:

Actually, nope. When I say that I haven’t showered that doesn’t mean that I wasn’t bathing. I swam almost daily in places like this:

But I learned that by living naturally I didn’t need cosmetic products anymore. I just used some soap, toothpaste, and essential oils and found that to work real well. This compared to previously using colognes, deodorant, shampoo, lotions, and all sorts of other products full of chemicals. And guess what? I had no lack of friends!

I realized that water doesn’t have to come from a shower head to get me clean. You can wash yourself in lakes.

Rivers.

Or just by sitting in the rain.

But when natural water wasn’t available I found other places to clean myself without having an impact. Like this leaky fire hydrant in Brooklyn:

Or this blasting fire hydrant in the Bronx:

I learned that I can air dry rather than using a towel. And this meant less laundry, which saved even more water.

And I also turned my shower time into a time to connect with nature. It became my favorite time of the day, when I would disconnect from the stresses of life and be present with my surroundings.

Sometimes I jumped around before jumping in.

And sometimes I just chilled out.

Other times I contemplated life.

And on occasion I’d have guests.

I learned that the average American uses about 100 gallons of water per day. But I was able to use less than 2 gallons per day on my bike trip. That’s just 8 Nalgene water bottles. (This was not including the natural water and leaky sources that I bathed in.)

Most importantly I learned to really appreciate every last drop.

Because water gives life to all of us and the animals too.

When I got home from my bike trip I resumed life at home but managed to use just 10-20 gallons per day. That is 5-10 times less than the average American uses. I went another 8 months without showering and conserved over 5,000 gallons of water and had plenty of fun with friends at the same time!

And when I didn’t feel like swimming, but I needed to get clean, I just rubbed myself down with a cloth and a gallon of water. But most importantly, I learned that you don’t have to stop showering to be a part of the solution. Their are many easy ways to conserve water and most are really easy for any of us to do.

You can…

-Flush the toilet less often.

-Take shorter showers or turn off the water while you’re soaping up and scrubbing down.

-Wash clothes less and in full loads

-Turn off the faucet

-Wash the dishes efficiently.

-Install water efficient showerheads and toilets.

-Get your leaks fixed.

-Grow food not lawns.

-Harvest rain.

How will you choose to conserve water? Start today by picking just one way to conserve and with time do more and more. You’ll likely find it to be quite easy this way.

And if you do all of that, you might start feeling like this!

Please share this story to inspire others to conserve water!
Photography by Brent Martin